Leader's' emotional cues predict violence

Analysis of speeches delivered by government, activist and terrorist leaders found that leaders' expressions of anger, contempt and disgust spiked immediately before their group committed an act of violence.

Among leaders of groups that committed aggressive acts, there was a significant increase in expressions of anger, contempt and disgust from 3 to 6 months prior to the group committing an act of violence. For nonviolent groups, expressions of anger, contempt and disgust decreased from 3 to 6 months prior to the group staging an act of peaceful resistance.

That combination seems to be a recipe for hatred that leads to violence...

Anger, contempt and disgust may be particularly important drivers of violent behavior because they are often expressed in response to moral violations, says Matsumoto, and when an individual feels these emotions about a person or group, they often feel that their opponent is unchangeable and inherently bad. [emphasis mine]

We should be on the lookout for this combination expressed against atheists.

Excellent article! I had read somewhere else that "disgust" was a dominant trait for right wingers. Makes sense when you consider the roots of homophobia, bigotry, xenophobia have a strong "disgust" component

I'd like to redefine "degrading, defiling, and unnatural" behaviors rather than merely ignoring the role moral role of disgust reactions. Rape, for example, elicits disgust for me. Masturbation to porn isn't disgusting, just kind of sad and pathetic because it's lonely. We can reexamine the enculturation imposed on top of our instincts for disgust.